AI and Audio: Implications as the Technology Moves Into the Broadcast Soundscape Audio execs see artificial intelligence as an ultra-smart, ultra-fast assistant By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednesday, January 15, 2025 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Artificial intelligence (AI) already has significant presence in professional audio. It's automating and streamlining such tasks as editing, mixing, mastering, and, increasingly, music creation and generation. It allows producers and engineers to work faster and more efficiently and offers new creative possibilities. Even so, there are concerns regarding the potential for loss of human creative input and the ethical implications of AI-generated content.
SVG asked some industry thought leaders for their views on this inflective moment in pro audio's evolution.
NBC Sports' Karl Malone: The beauty of AI lies in its ability to analyze a scenario and evaluate far more parameters of an audio signal than we ever could as humans.
Karl Malone, senior director, audio engineering, NBC Sports:
I'm excited to have the ability to see what can be achieved with new AI tools in broadcast audio. We already look to Cedars, Isotopes, and upmix engines to look after complex tasks, and the use of Kick for mixing ball effects in European football should be enough for us to take automated and intelligent technology seriously.
The beauty of AI lies in its ability to analyze a scenario and evaluate far more parameters of an audio signal than we ever could as humans. Although A1s excel at brain-to-hand-to-eye coordination, we simply cannot match the computational foresight of AI. It can process information in real time, anticipate outcomes, and make decisions or offer suggestions based on both its analysis and the specific training it has received for a given situation.
However, the artistic nuances and creative expertise that define an A1's work are irreplaceable, making AI unsuitable for mixing a major broadcast show on its own. That said, AI could be highly effective in handling secondary outputs, such as creating a dedicated mix for second-screen feeds - focusing, for instance, on mixing close ball effects and radio commentary as a separate audio feed.
AI can also be helpful in the QC of large numbers of program feeds to be able to check audio and video for all sorts of visual- and audio-mix issues: out-of-sync audio and video, artifacts in video-resolution-quality fluctuations, missing audio, clipping, metadata timing, phase, etc. It can alert the MCR/BOC operator to take a closer look or listen.
Ultimately, we decide if we want to use it in these early stages or not, so it's not being forced upon anyone to implement.
Audio-Technica's Gary Dixon: AI is a tool for humans to better react to unpredictable events caused by interesting human nature.
Gary Dixon, director, broadcast and production business development, Audio-Technica:
Audio is dynamic, and the moments worth hearing are typically unpredictable: such as a crash in racing, the eruption of the crowd at the 18th hole, or holding a music note just a little longer at a concert. AI in professional audio and in microphones specifically will be used as a tool for quickly adapting hardware in unpredictable audio situations. Hardware can have limitations in gain structure, dynamics, and general EQ, whereas AI can assist the human in reacting to these situations.
However, for audio to appeal to humans, the final monitoring stage and final adjustments will need to be done by humans. AI is a tool for humans to better react to unpredictable events caused by interesting human nature.
Christian Scheck, head of marketing content, Lawo:
From a content-creation perspective, generative AI is proving extremely powerful. As far as video is concerned, it is already possible to feed a generative AI engine with some information to get usable footage.
Similarly, on the audio side, music written and performed by AI engines is beginning to scare songwriters and performers alike, while artificially generated voiceovers for videos and live commentary for broadcasts manage to fool a growing number of listeners into believing that they are listening to a human.
AI has been used to good effect for the generation of closed captioning, which used to be a time-consuming task and can now be prepared within minutes. Results, however, still need to be checked by a human for consistency, tone of voice, and, critically, accuracy.
Lawo's Christian Scheck: AI has been used to good effect for the generation of closed captioning, which used to be a time-consuming task. Results, however, still need to be checked by a human.
In the broadcast industry, more-advanced algorithms [can] help audio engineers, for instance, cope with a rapidly growing workload, not least in immersive-audio-mixing scenarios that require the supervision and delivery of several presentations and downmix formats - all from one console and by a single A1.
Ultimately, the success of AI in live-production scenarios will depend on how well it responds to unexpected situations. It may very well become a powerful assistant that complements media production based on the use of Lawo solutions, but whether it will be able to replace DSP audio or high-quality video processing remains to be seen.
AI can add value in other ways. On a modern, software-based platform like HOME Apps, for instance, AI can streamline process monitoring, vastly improve debug times, and shorten downtimes, as well as assist with data analysis and help predict failure conditions.
Other applications could include advanced auto-mixing algorithms or the intelligent deployment of apps and services to max out hardware and software utilization in scenarios with a limited number of computing resources.
However, AI needs to be applied wi
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
06/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
06/04/2026
From high school sports all the way up to the major leagues, building high-quali...
06/04/2026
Quickplay, an AI company for the media and entertainment industry, has been accepted into the Advanced tier of the TwelveLabs Ecosystem Partner Program. Quickpl...
06/04/2026
Grass Valley has announced the Future Playmakers Program, a global initiative to...
06/04/2026
El l der de operaciones impulsa la producci n en estudio mientras encuentra insp...
06/04/2026
The ops leader helps lead the charge in studio for the Spanish-language broadcas...
06/04/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
06/04/2026
The National Hockey League (NHL), in partnership with Verizon and the New Jersey Devils, today announced the opening of the NHL Innovation Lab powered by Verizo...
06/04/2026
Rock League, a new professional curling league, has announced that ESPN+ will stream its inaugural 2026 season for fans in the United States. The first Rock Lea...
06/04/2026
Advanced Systems Group has announced the appointment of Andrea (Andy) Cummis as Vice President of Systems Design and Engineering. In this role, she will lead de...
06/04/2026
Backed by Bolt Ventures, the venture brings Bryson DeChambeau, Grant Horvat, and...
06/04/2026
With this environment we can start that collaboration even earlier because we ca...
06/04/2026
Like the immortal lives of vampires, some stories never really end. That's t...
06/04/2026
As podcasting continues to evolve, growth increasingly means building beyond aud...
06/04/2026
Multiband dynamics plug-in enhanced
California-based developer FSK Audio have released a significant update for their innovative multiband dynamics processo...
06/04/2026
Share official & user-created full-rig presets
IK Multimedia's latest TONEX update makes it possible for users of the popular amp and effects modelling ...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Dalet Showcases Dalia Agentic AI and End-to-End Media Workflows at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Dalet, a leading technology and...
06/04/2026
OpenDrives Shows Off Sports Expertise in Sports Business Hub located in NAB Show...
06/04/2026
Proton to Demonstrate 3D Application at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Yet further creative potential unleashed through innovation in ...
06/04/2026
Autoscript Highlights Voice-Driven Prompting and PTZ Solutions at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Experience Autoscript Voice, PTZ prom...
06/04/2026
Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Sho...
06/04/2026
Wayne, N.J., April 6th, 2026 Phantom High-Speed announces the release of PCC 4...
06/04/2026
April 6th, 2026
TRIBECA STUDIOS AND LILLY ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF INAUGURAL VITAL...
06/04/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Expands Kids Entertainment Lineup With Playground App ...
05/04/2026
Tackles all reported bugs!
SoundBridge have just announced the launch of a new update that introduces a couple of minor changes to their remote collaboratio...
04/04/2026
The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...
04/04/2026
1080p HDR arrives, a new generation of storytelling tools takes center stage, an...
04/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
04/04/2026
Faster, cleaner and more intuitive than ever
The control software for Flock Audio's digitally controlled patchbay systems has just been treated to an up...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
DHD Introduces AI-Based Audio Noise Reduction to XD3 IP Core
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
The accompanying image shows the rear panel of the ...
04/04/2026
Macnica Redefines ST 2110 Flexibility with Two Speeds on One Card
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
New for NAB Show 2026, MEP100 SmartNIC now sup...
04/04/2026
Unified Media Workflows for Story-Centric Production
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
Framelight X unifies field capture, editing and publishing ...
03/04/2026
Michigan's Fab Five will reunite for an alternate presentation of the Mich...
03/04/2026
Avid will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (April 18-22, Booth N2226, Las Vegas Convention Center), demonstrating its Content Core platform and new AI-driven workflow c...
03/04/2026
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has announced the appointment of Nick Barthee as Chief Operating Officer.
The announcement follows MRMC's transition fro...
03/04/2026
Interra Systems has announced that Elite Media Technologies has selected its BATON file-based QC solution for media workflows. Elite Media Technologies speciali...
03/04/2026
Ateme has announced that Moldtelecom has deployed Ateme technologies across its streaming workflow, covering encoding, delivery, operations, and analytics.
Mol...
03/04/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate Framelight X, its content management platform, at NAB Show 2026. The platform connects capture, ingest, editing, and publishing in...
03/04/2026
Encompass Digital Media and Techex have announced a cloud-native Master Control ...
AI and Audio: Implications as the Technology Moves Into the Broadcast Soundscape Audio execs see artificial intelligence as an ultra-smart, ultra-fast assistant By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
